Washington, DC (February 23, 2017) — Leaders of the Hindu
American Foundation condemned the shooting of two Indian immigrants and an
American bystander in Olathe, Kansas on Wednesday, in what appears to be a hate
crime.

According to media reports, a 51-year old resident of Olathe, shot
Garmin engineers Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, as well as bystander
Ian Grillot who attempted to prevent the shooting, which occurred at a local
bar. Kuchibhotla was killed in the attack, while Madasani and Grillot were
injured.

Prior to the attack, the perpetrator, Adam Purinton, was
yelling racial slurs and told the victims, who he reportedly mistook for being
of Middle Eastern origin, to “get out of my country.”

Both Kuchibhotla and Madasani earned undergraduate degrees
at Indian universities, with their graduate work done at colleges in the United
States. Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife and family members in India.

The shooter was arrested early Thursday morning, after being
turned in to police by a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, to whom he bragged
about the shooting and said he needed a place to hide out. Purinton has since
been charged with first-degree murder.

The murder of Kuchibhotla is the first reported
bias-motivated fatality in the United States after the bitter Presidential
election.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of
Srinivas Kuchibhotla,” said Jay Kansara, Director of Government Relations. “We
are also praying for a speedy recovery for the injured. We call upon the US
Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as
what it is, a hate crime. Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and
their families.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help send Kuchibhotla’s
remains to his native India.

“We at HAF want to thank those who put themselves at risk to
stop this attack or to bring the perpetrator to justice,” Kansara added. “It is
these acts of heroism in our communities that make America great.”

This tragic shooting occurs as hate crimes and acts of
bigotry have risen notably in recent months. In the past week alone, a Jewish
cemetery was vandalized in St Louis, Missouri, offices of Jewish civil society
organizations have received bomb threats, and a man was removed from a flight
between Chicago and Houston after leveling racist taunts at Pakistani and
Indian passengers, to name just a few incidents.

HAF urges anyone that has been harassed, assaulted or
threatened with harm on the basis of their identity (e.g., race, religion,
disability, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation), to report the incident to
law enforcement immediately. Similarly, community members should report any
incidents involving vandalism, hateful graffiti, desecration, arson, or
violence directed towards temples or other properties.

HAF also requests help in tracking incidents of
identity-based or bias-motivated intimidation, threats, harassment, and
violence being experienced in our communities by filling out the Bias-Motivated Crime Data Collection Form, if they or someone
they know has experienced or witnessed an incident.

-------------------------A white Kansas man suspected of shooting two Indian men in
an apparent hate crime said he had thought they were from the Middle East.

Adam Purinton allegedly opened fire on three people at a bar
in Olathe, Kansas on Wednesday. One man was killed, while the other two were
seriously injured.

Witnesses told local media that Purinton had
spewed racial slurs and shouted, "Get out of my country!" before
attacking the completely innocent men.

Purinton, a 51-year-old Olathe resident and Navy veteran,
was arrested early Thursday morning while drinking at a bar in an Applebee's in
Clinton, Missouri.

According to the bartender, Purinton told him he had needed
a place to hide out after killing two "Middle Eastern" men. Upon
hearing this, the bartender called the police, who took the suspected shooter
into custody.

The supposed "Middle Eastern" men Purinton
allegedly shot were both engineers on the aviation systems team at the
technology company, Garmin.

A GoFundMe
page set up for the victims identified the man who was killed as
Srinivas Kuchibhotla. According to the page, which was set up by a friend of
Kuchibhotla, the shooter had been drunk and was "hurling racial
slurs" before the attack.

"Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of
love, care and compassion for everyone," the page reads. "He never
uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was
brilliant, well-mannered and simply an outstanding human being. His wife,
Sunayana, and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of
expenses."

The other Indian man injured was identified as Alok
Madasani. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last
night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of
our co-workers involved," their company said in a statement after
the attack.

"Alok Madasani and Srinivas Kuchibhotla, both employees
at Garmin, were enjoying their evening at a local sports bar in Olathe, KS when
they were confronted with racist, bigoted remarks and ultimately shot as part
of what appears to have been a vicious hate crime," wrote another GoFundMe
page for the victims.

The third victim has been identified as Ian Grillot. He was
shot in the hand and shoulder. A GoFundMe
page set up for him narrated the incident: "Ian found himself in
the wrong place trying to be a helping hand. Ian stood up for two people being
mistreated by a man who was in the wrong. Said man left and later returned to
Austins Bar and Grill to open fire. Ian thought all rounds were done and tried
to go after the man. This resulted in Ian being shot."

This is by no means the first time South Asians have been
attacked by racists and Islamophobes who assumed they were from the Middle
East.

In December, a man shot a store clerk of Indian descent in
Michigan in the face. The shooter, who also appeared to be a U.S. military
veteran, called the clerk a "terrorist," insisted he was a member of
ISIS, and shouted that he "used to kill people like him in Iraq."

Adherents of the Sikh religion, who are not Muslim, are
frequently targeted in anti-Muslim hate crimes by violent bigots who
believe they are.

Facebook Comments

Comments.

Cardinal Tittu has described SLAVERY
through his beautiful experience. One time the pilot of his flight
from S. Africa was a dark skinned African. Cardinal was nervous until
the aircraft landed. Later in his recollections he confessed, his
nervousness was the aftermath of Slavery. Slavery can make you loose
your confidence and reason. Even though he fought slavery he was a
victim of it.

The colonial powers, especially
Britain was able to conquer and subdue many countries not because of
its Naval power alone but because of the help of the Natives.
Indians, still are slaves to the supremacy of the 'white skin'. India
was under the tyranny of of the white skinned, the more powerful
white skinned British took the power from the vedic white supermists
and gave the power back to them when they left India. People like
Menon are still in the chains of white supremacy. He has popped up
several times before in different names. I can only show you the path
& light, you have to free yourself. Slavery can poison you
entirely, from the tip of the toe to pituitary gland of the brain.

It is also a fact, American slave
traders were able to round up and capture many Africans because their
hiding places were shown to the slave traders by African natives. Not
because they were evil, but it is the poison of slavery that
intoxicated them to betray their own.

It is also a fact, the French
revolutionaries freed the prisoners in the Paris prison, but many
came back the same day or other, they preferred prison to freedom. We
can see the same described in the allegory of the cave by Plato.
Permanent 'cave dwellers' ; they never saw Sun or real world outside,
when they were brought outside, they were not able to tolerate the
reality and demanded to go back to the cave.

Just think : Jesus, would have been a
sun burned brown skin man. But look at the Jesus hanging on the
cross- he is white skinned. It was a very smart idea. And that is one
of the reason Christianity spread. But if the Jesus on the cross is
dark skinned African, Christianity would not have spread into
European countries. The Spanish conquerors of South America were
white. Natives thought them to be gods and worshiped them & they
simply took over.

It is hard to get rid of the poison of
slavery. It is deeply blended into your flesh, blood and brains.

Those who can think, reason, may be
able to free themselves from the cruel clutches of slavery.

Until that time, you will attack those
who try to free you.

It is sad to see some Indians &
especially Malayalees; still singing hallelujah to racists.

Is it is due to slavery or religious
fanaticism ? Both are dangerous for the survival of a civilized
humanitarian society !

I really regret for what happened to this young professional. I don't have any hesitation to tell that the increased violence we see in this country against the minority is Triggered by one of the unqualified President elected by people like Ravi Menon. Trump is a pathological liar and a narcissist. He doesn't care about anyone other than himself. He and his radical white group want to get rid of all the emigrants and want to make this country great again with whites. People like Ravi Menon is going to learn hard way. They are going to wake up when they get kicked in their ass until then they keep on fighting with people tell the truth. As Andrew said, if you see the stock market surge as the indication of Trumps glory then you are mistaken. It is the result of the rhetoric Trump is using not because he has done anything yet. He is busy suppressing media who is trying to bring out the Russian connection and eventually his impeachment. More you can read in my comment posted under G. Puthenkurish's article. I don't want to waste my time on you because of your poor intellectual capacity.

Evil is evil, when you see evil in front of you, do not justify it by saying like things happened before.we all know white nationalists are doing racial profiling & crimes all over.They voted for trump and he has not told the fundamentalists to stop evil crimes.if you voted for trump you are a racist too menon

Racism is very high in most part of US. Children are bullied in schools, Many dark skinned are told to go back home. People are detained in airports for hrs. Police is checking people with racial ethinicity.Menon if you travel out of US and when come back you going to suffer severe scrutiny. Media is not reporting many racial profiling crimes to prevent copy cats. White extremits will be more courageous to do more evil because they have a president and cabinet full of racists. 90% of police are affiliated to KKK. Menon, you might be sitting in a cave unaware of what is happening.

What happened to Donald Trump's Best friend billionaire Shalabh Kumar and his Hindu collision? Millions of Indians voted for Trump misguided by Shalabh Kuamar and word that Indians would be taken care of by Trump. Trump and his buddy Steve Bannon's agenda is a White America and in that the chances of non Europeans are very slim. All Indians should guard against this kind of attacks because Trump's stooges are in full force attacking minorities. The recent violence against Jews are an indicator of this.

A very sad news that one of our professionals became a victim under these circumstances. Bad guys carrying concealed weapons to a bar,where good people go for socializing, some escape, some release from stress. A drunk man confused about the Middle East. He will get a defense Attorney and plead guilty on the grounds- shooting under influence, insanity or insecurity, Phoebia that if he did not, somebody would bombard the bar, killing everybody. Fantasy, hallucination... Bar, bar, right professionals in wrong place. Beware, character is destiny. We learn everyday, but still imperfect. Nobody is a winner. God bless the victims' families.